[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey started 2012 with a bang, scoring a hat trick in Fulham's third-round win in the
English FA Cup, He almost matched that Saturday with two goals and an assist -- his best game of the 2012-13 season -- in Tottenham's 3-0 win over Coventry City in the third round of the competition.
In Mexico, Herculez Gomez started for Santos and scored in its 1-1 tie at San Luis. For more on Americans abroad ...

-- U.S. national team captain
Carlos Bocanegra did not dress for Racing Santander's 2-1 win over Ponferradina in Spain's Segunda Division.

According to Racing coach Jose Aurelio Gay, Bocanegra was unavailable because of "jet lag" and problems with his residency visa following his return from California after the holidays, though
local media dubbed his
absence "strange" and "an unresolved mystery." Serbian Andriya Kaludjerovic did not dress for the same reasons.

-- Tijuana, winner of the Liga MX's
Torneo Apertura, opened the second half of the Mexican season with a 2-1 win at Puebla in a match that featured four American starters: Edgar Castillo and Joe Corona for Tijuana and DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco Fiscal, in his debut,
for Puebla.